


Negative Ions

by garrideb



Category: Marvel, Marvel Ultimates, X-Men (Ultimateverse)
Genre: Community: heroines_fest, Gen, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-07
Updated: 2011-08-07
Packaged: 2017-10-22 08:55:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/236321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/garrideb/pseuds/garrideb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In <i>Ultimate War</i>, Storm and Thor unleash their powers at each other.  Written: 10/2009</p>
            </blockquote>





	Negative Ions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ballpoint](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ballpoint/gifts).



> This was originally posted to heroines-fest.livejournal.com [here](http://heroines-fest.livejournal.com/8873.html).

A lot of people feel really good after a storm. Part of it might be symbolic, tangled in the cleansing aspect of wind and rain. Part of it might come from the joy of surviving a force of nature. But some of it is chemical. Storm knows a bit of the science behind it.

The force of a storm breaks molecules, making them gain or lose an electrical charge. These negative ions - and here it gets a bit vague - get the blood to peoples' brains quicker. The result is an alert, energized feeling.

Storm gets that feeling before using her powers in battle, not after. Well, sometimes life drags you through things backwards, right?

Thor raises his hammer to the sky and the clouds go dark, like someone’s dropped ink in them. Storm can feel the atmospheric changes, and knows exactly when to dart to the side. The lightning sounds like a gunshot, and it takes her a moment to realize that she wouldn’t have been hit even if she’d stayed still. Is he testing her? Playing her? This isn’t a game. Her life and Xavier’s life and her teammates' lives hang in this battle.

They sell machines that make negative ions. Storm’s seen them advertised on the internet. Who knows, maybe it helps people, but it seems crazy to her. Little things like that seem crazy even when Storm is fighting a hippie mutant who thinks he’s a Norse god. Go figure.

She feels the atmosphere sloshing between the city and outer space. She makes a punching motion towards the ground, forcing the air pressure to go wild. The clouds open up, and Storm directs the wind so that the rain stings Thor in the eyes. She takes the distraction and summons her own lightning.

Thor laughs, one muscled arm shielding his eyes while the hammer hangs loosely in the other. “Lady, I’m taking you and your friends in. If you got the rain out of your own eyes, you’d see how much damage your merry little band has caused.”

Storm lets her lightning fly, but Thor just raises his hammer and all the lightning strikes that instead. The huge object shakes, but it and its carrier seem unharmed. Storm grimaces.

“Have you ever made a tornado in soda bottle?” Thor asks. Storm tries to drown him out with wind, but his voice is like a damn foghorn. “That’s what your power is like, compared to mine. I’m giving you another chance to surrender.”

Storm snorts. She’s not scared. Hell, she used to steal cars in a state where everyone and their grandmother owned a gun. This is just a mutant on a day pass from the local asylum. She summons lightning from opposite sides of Thor and strikes them simultaneously. Thor stumbles back a step. He frowns at her, then raises his hammer.

The sky crackles and flashes like a berserk strobe light. Storm concentrates, tries to harness the storm but it’s like trying to hold onto a bucking bronco. If she can turn Thor’s own power against him, maybe she can still save...

Sometimes people feel uneasy before a storm. The yellow sky, the changes in air pressure, and the restlessness of animals can all make a person’s hair stand on end. Thor grins, and Storm feels that sick dread for the first time this fight. She’s a bit late with the pre-storm unease, though. She hates it when life gets it backwards.


End file.
